Darkly

#1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER • A powder keg of dark secrets and mind-bending puzzles, this must-read thriller is “addictively suspenseful” (The Washington Post) and “full of atmospheric thrills” (Los Angeles Times)—from the New York Times bestselling author of Night Film.<BR><BR>The striking first edition paperback of Darkly will feature sprayed edges with a checkerboard design!<BR><BR>Your favorite game has come to life. And you don’t want to find out what happens if you lose…<BR><BR>“Pessl is gargantuan: wildly smart, extremely surprising, a wordsmith, a queen. Read her.” —E. Lockhart, #1 New York Times bestselling author of We Were Liars<BR><BR>A KIRKUS REVIEWS BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR<BR><BR>Arcadia “Dia” Gannon has been obsessed with Louisiana Veda, the game designer whose obsessive creations and company, Darkly, have gained a cultlike following. Dia is shocked when she’s chosen for a highly-coveted internship, along with six other teenagers from around the world. Why her? Dia has never won anything in her life.<BR><BR>Darkly, once a game-making empire renowned for its ingenious and utterly terrifying toys and games, now lies dormant after Veda’s mysterious death. The remaining games are priced like rare works of art, with some fetching millions of dollars at auction.<BR><BR>As Dia and her fellow interns delve into the heart of Darkly, they discover hidden symbols, buried clues, and a web of intrigue. Who are these other teens, and what secrets do they keep? Why were any of them really chosen? The answers lie within the twisted labyrinth of Darkly—a chilling and addictive read by Marisha Pessl.<BR><BR>This summer will be the most twisted Darkly game of all. <BR><BR>“Complex and captivating.” —Erin A. Craig, #1 New York Times bestselling author of House of Salt and Sorrows

'THE BOOK EVERYONE'S TALKING ABOUT.' Observer<BR><BR>On a damp October night the body of beautiful Ashley Cordova is discovered in a Manhattan warehouse. <BR><BR>Though her death is ruled a suicide, investigative journalist Scott McGrath suspects otherwise. <BR><BR>The last time McGrath got too close to the Cordova dynasty, he lost his marriage and his career. <BR><BR>This time he could lose his mind.

Psychothriller für junge Erwachsene über das dunkle Erbe einer berüchtigten SpieledesignerinWofür würdest du töten? Diese Frage muss die siebzehnjährige Dia beantworten, um einen begehrten Praktikumsplatz bei der Louisiana Veda Foundation in London zu gewinnen. Dia ist seit Jahren besessen von der legendären Veda, deren ebenso geniale wie furchteinflößende Darkly-Spiele Kultstatus erreicht haben. Die wenigen Werke, die nach Vedas mysteriösem Tod erhalten blieben, werden für mehrere Millionen Dollar gehandelt. Unter Tausenden Bewerbern aus aller Welt werden Dia und sechs andere Jugendliche als Praktikanten ausgewählt. Doch gleich nach der Ankunft in London werden sie auf eine abgelegene Insel gebracht - das Herzstück von Vedas Spiele-Imperium. Dort finden sie sich in einem Darkly-Spiel auf Leben und Tod wieder. Wer führt die Fäden in diesem Netz? Dia weiß nicht, wem sie noch trauen kann. Ein Labyrinth voller verborgener Hinweise, ein dunkles Vermächtnis und ein Geheimnis in Dias Vergangenheit - ein fesselnder Thriller voller überraschender Twists.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “A hair-raising mystery that’s equal parts family drama, horror movie, and jigsaw puzzle. . . . It’s impossible to look away.”— People (four stars)<BR> <BR>“Maniacally clever . . . like an M.C. Escher nightmare about Edgar Allan Poe . . . You’ll miss your subway stop, let dinner burn, and start sleeping with the lights on.”—The Washington Post<BR> <BR>A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: NPR, Cosmopolitan, Kirkus Reviews, BookPage<BR> <BR>On a damp October night, beautiful young Ashley Cordova is found dead in an abandoned warehouse in lower Manhattan. Though her death is ruled a suicide, veteran investigative journalist Scott McGrath suspects otherwise. As he probes the strange circumstances surrounding Ashley’s life and death, McGrath comes face-to-face with the legacy of her father: the legendary, reclusive cult-horror-film director Stanislas Cordova—a man who hasn’t been seen in public for more than thirty years.<BR> <BR>For McGrath, another death connected to this seemingly cursed family dynasty seems more than just a coincidence. Though much has been written about Cordova’s dark and unsettling films, very little is known about the man himself. Driven by revenge, curiosity, and a need for the truth, McGrath, with the aid of two strangers, is drawn deeper and deeper into Cordova’s eerie, hypnotic world.<BR> <BR>The last time he got close to exposing the director, McGrath lost his marriage and his career. This time, he might lose even more.

#1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER • A powder keg of dark secrets and mind-bending puzzles, this must-read thriller is “addictively suspenseful” (The Washington Post) and “full of atmospheric thrills” (Los Angeles Times)—from the New York Times bestselling author of Night Film.<BR><BR>Your favorite game has come to life. And you don’t want to find out what happens if you lose…<BR><BR>“Pessl is gargantuan: wildly smart, extremely surprising, a wordsmith, a queen. Read her.” —E. Lockhart, #1 New York Times bestselling author of We Were Liars<BR><BR>A KIRKUS REVIEWS BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR<BR><BR>Arcadia “Dia” Gannon has been obsessed with Louisiana Veda, the game designer whose obsessive creations and company, Darkly, have gained a cultlike following. Dia is shocked when she’s chosen for a highly-coveted internship, along with six other teenagers from around the world. Why her? Dia has never won anything in her life.<BR><BR>Darkly, once a game-making empire renowned for its ingenious and utterly terrifying toys and games, now lies dormant after Veda’s mysterious death. The remaining games are priced like rare works of art, with some fetching millions of dollars at auction.<BR><BR>As Dia and her fellow interns delve into the heart of Darkly, they discover hidden symbols, buried clues, and a web of intrigue. Who are these other teens, and what secrets do they keep? Why were any of them really chosen? The answers lie within the twisted labyrinth of Darkly—a chilling and addictive read by Marisha Pessl.<BR><BR>This summer will be the most twisted Darkly game of all. <BR><BR>“Complex and captivating.” —Erin A. Craig, #1 New York Times bestselling author of House of Salt and Sorrows

What would you kill for? Settle in for a spine-tingling Halloween read full of dark twists and turns, romance and chills.<BR><BR>The New York Times bestselling author of Night Film spins a twisted web in this masterful YA psychological thriller about the dark legacy of a notorious games designer.<BR><BR>"Pessl is gargantuan: wildly smart, extremely surprising, a wordsmith, a queen. Read her." - E. Lockhart, #1 New York Times bestselling author of We Were Liars<BR><BR>A seemingly ordinary high school student. A mysterious summer internship. And a legendary games designer, now dead.<BR><BR>When an ad for an internship with the Louisiana Veda Foundation appears, Arcadia 'Dia' Gannon rushes to apply. Veda's game-making empire, Darkly, was renowned for its ingenious and terrifying games back in the day and Dia is as obsessed with them as anyone.<BR><BR>The remaining games are priced like highly sought-after works of art, with the rarest and most notorious commanding tens of millions of dollars at auction. Now, Dia is thrust into the enigmatic heart of the operation. But who are these other interns? Why do they all seem to have something to hide? And why was she really chosen? It soon becomes clear that this summer will be the most twisted Darkly game of all.<BR><BR>PRAISE FOR DARKLY<BR><BR>"Complex and captivating." Erin A. Craig, #1 New York Times bestselling author of House of Salt and Sorrows.<BR><BR>"Creative and unique, this is a special treat for readers who wish Jennifer Lynn Barnes's The Inheritance Games had been set in the world of Jumanji." School Library Journal<BR><BR>"[A] crazy, funny, addictively suspenseful story." The Washington Post<BR><BR>"Like a Darkly game, the whole is mesmerizing, improbable, deeply compelling, and best enjoyed after dark....Roll the die, flip the card: We have a winner." Kirkus Reviews, starred review<BR><BR>"Twists and connections are satisfying and surprising in this high-stakes thriller by Pessl, who takes familiar YA tropes and turns them on their head using confident prose." Publishers Weekly, starred review<BR><BR>"Full of atmospheric thrills." Los Angeles Times<BR><BR>"Pessl set forth with an ambitious concept, and the result is thrilling, mysterious, and full of shocking twists through the very last page." Booklist

#1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER • A powder keg of dark secrets and mind-bending puzzles, this must-read thriller is “addictively suspenseful” (The Washington Post) and “full of atmospheric thrills” (Los Angeles Times)—from the New York Times bestselling author of Night Film.<BR><BR>Your favorite game has come to life. And you don’t want to find out what happens if you lose…<BR><BR>“Pessl is gargantuan: wildly smart, extremely surprising, a wordsmith, a queen. Read her.” —E. Lockhart, #1 New York Times bestselling author of We Were Liars<BR><BR>A KIRKUS REVIEWS BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR<BR><BR>Arcadia “Dia” Gannon has been obsessed with Louisiana Veda, the game designer whose obsessive creations and company, Darkly, have gained a cultlike following. Dia is shocked when she’s chosen for a highly-coveted internship, along with six other teenagers from around the world. Why her? Dia has never won anything in her life.<BR><BR>Darkly, once a game-making empire renowned for its ingenious and utterly terrifying toys and games, now lies dormant after Veda’s mysterious death. The remaining games are priced like rare works of art, with some fetching millions of dollars at auction.<BR><BR>As Dia and her fellow interns delve into the heart of Darkly, they discover hidden symbols, buried clues, and a web of intrigue. Who are these other teens, and what secrets do they keep? Why were any of them really chosen? The answers lie within the twisted labyrinth of Darkly—a chilling and addictive read by Marisha Pessl.<BR><BR>This summer will be the most twisted Darkly game of all. <BR><BR>“Complex and captivating.” —Erin A. Craig, #1 New York Times bestselling author of House of Salt and Sorrows

Blue hat den Blues. Ihr Vater, der Universitätsprofessor, zieht schon wieder um. Nie länger als ein Semester bleiben Tochter und Vater an einem Ort. Bald kennt Blue jedes College. Zum Glück hat sie die Bücher - ihre engsten Vertrauten. Und so hungrig wie sie Geschichten auf Papier verschlingt, so lustvoll stürzt sie sich ins pralle Leben: Charmant und witzig besticht sie als wandelndes Lexikon und läßt zugleich keine Wodkaflasche an sich vorbeiziehen. Jeder weiß, Blue ist besonders. Man liegt ihr zu Füßen. Und dann passiert ein mysteriöser Mord und ihr Leben gerät aus den Fugen. Ein Aufsehen erregender und temporeicher Roman und ein spannend komischer Streifzug quer durch die Sätze von Shakespeare bis Cary Grant.

Marisha Pessl's Special Topics in Calamity Physics is an unforgettable debut novel that combines the storytelling gifts of Donna Tartt and the suspense of Alfred Hitchcock: a darkly hilarious coming-of-age tale and a richly plotted suspense story, told with dazzling intelligence and wit.<BR><BR>'I wrote this account one year after I'd found Hannah Dead.<BR><BR>I thought I'd managed to erase all traces of that night within myself.<BR><BR>But I was wrong.<BR><BR>Every night when I tried to sleep, I'd close my eyes and see her again, exactly as I found her, hanging from a pine tree by an orange electrical cord, her neck twisted like a tulip stem, her eyes seeing nothing. <BR><BR>Or else that was the problem. They'd seen everything.'<BR><BR>Special Topics in Calamity Physics is a mesmerizing debut. As teenager Blue van Meer tells her story we are hurled into a dizzying world of murder and butterflies, womanizing and wandering, American McCulture, The Western Canon, political radicalism and juvenile crushisms. Structured around a syllabus for a Great Works of Literature class (with hand-drawn Visual Aids), Blue's wickedly funny yet poignant tale reveals how the imagination finds meaning in the most bewildering times, the ways people of all ages strive for connection, and how the darkest of secrets can set us free.<BR><BR>'Beneath the foam of this exuberant debut is a dark, strong drink' Jonathan Franzen, author of, The Corrections <BR><BR>'Any [Donna] Tartt fan disappointed that her second novel had little in common with her debut should rush out and buy this book immediately... It's a brilliant debut, guaranteed to join the ranks of The Secret History and The Virgin Suicides as one of those rare books to become a cult hit and instant classic' Sunday Telegraph <BR><BR>'One of the most impressive debut novels I have ever read ... It stops you doing anything apart from reading it ' Independent on Sunday <BR><BR>'Special Topics in Calamity Physics made me stay up all night reading; in the morning it seemed like one of those parties where everyone is too cool for you but you desperately want to know them anyway . . . I loved this book' Audrey Niffenegger, author of The Time Traveler's Wife <BR><BR>Marisha Pessl was born in 1977 and lives in New York. This is her first novel.